Auxiliary stiff sheet feeder for newspaper section collating machine

ABSTRACT

A vertical stack of stiff sheets is received by the hopper of the feeder with the sheets in a forwardly inclined condition and is supported beneath its lowermost sheet by a series of gripping rollers which are driven by a common shaft. A one-way clutch coupling the shaft with an oscillatory drive element causes the rollers to be driven only during one stroke of the element, at which time the leading end of the lowermost sheet is forced against the front of the hopper to bend the sheet and direct the same down and out the hopper outlet for introduction between a pair of rapidly rotating delivery rollers. The delivery rollers pull the sheet from the gripping rollers at an increased speed, and a friction clutch associated with the gripping rollers retards the freewheeling tendencies of the gripping rollers during this period. A retaining member having an abrasive or irregular outer surface projects into the hopper outlet to prevent more than one of the sheets from being fed at the same time.

United States Patent 1 Hannon et al.

7 m. 3,762,701 1 1 Oct. 2, 1973 1 AUXILIARY STIFE SHEET FEEDER FORNEWSPAPER SECTION COLLATING MACHINE [73] Assignee: said Warren W.Hannon, by said Charles N. Hannon 221 Filed: May 17,1971

211 Appl.N0.. 143,880

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATlONS Italy 271/41 Primary Examiner-Richard E.Aegerter Att0rneySchmidt, Johnson, Hovey & Williams 57 ABSTRACT Avertical stack of stiff sheets is received by the hopper of the feederwith the sheets in a forwardly inclined condition and is supportedbeneath its lowermost sheet by a series of gripping rollers which aredriven by a common shaft. A one-way clutch coupling the shaft with anoscillatory drive element causes the rollers to be driven only duringone stroke of the element, at which time the leading end of thelowermost sheet is forced against the front of the hopper to bend thesheet and direct the same down and out the hopper outlet forintroduction between a pair of rapidly rotating delivery rollers. Thedelivery rollers pull the sheet from the grip ping rollers at anincreased speed, and a friction clutch associated with the grippingrollers retards the freewheeling tendencies of the gripping rollersduring this period. A retaining member having an abrasive or irregularouter surface projects into the hopper outlet to prevent more than oneof the sheets from being fed at the same time.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures FWENTEB 3.762.701

INVENTORS. Warren W. Harmon BY Char/es N. Harmon PATENTEDUET 2 3.762.701

sum 20f 2 INVENTORS. 25 Warren W. Han/won BY Charles N. Hanna/7 MQTWM. AT RNEYS.

AUXILIARY STIFF SHEET FEEDER FOR NEWSPAPER SECTION COLLATING MACHINEThis invention relates broadly to the field of newspaper handlingequipment and, more particularly, to apparatus for successively feedingrelatively stiff sheet inserts or the like to a preselected point ofdelivery.

Modern metropolitan newspapers are finding it increasingly profitable toinclude single-sheet advertisement flyers within a complete newspaperedition normally comprising a number of separate sections, this beingespecially true with regard to a Sunday edition. Such flyers arenormally smaller than the corresponding sections with which they areassociated and, for the most part, are printed on sheet articles whichare inherently relatively stiff, at least to the point of beingessentially self-sustaining when positioned in an upright,standing-on-edge condition.

In order to eliminate costly manual stuffing of the flyers it is, ofcourse, extremely desirable to provide suitable machinery to carry outthis function. However, as is the case with newspapers in general, therelatively thin and somewhat porous flyer inserts are difiicult tohandle, thus presenting problems in designing equipment which is capableof feeding the inserts both rapidly and reliably. Thus, the primary goalof the present invention is to provide apparatus which will successfullyaccomplish the successive delivery of all of the relatively stiff sheetinserts in a stack thereof without encountering any of the seriousdrawbacks and disadvantages inherent in equipment heretofore availablefor carrying out the same purpose.

More particularly, an important aim of the instant invention is toprovide a stiff sheet feeder as aforesaid which is adapted to be coupledwith, and thereby derive its operating power from the newspaper sectionfeeding apparatus shown and disclosed in our U. S. Letters Patent No.3,608,891 issued Sept. 28, 1971 and en titled Mechanism For SuccessivelyDelivering Sheet Articles From A Stack Thereof To A Folding Machine.

The above-mentioned patent discloses a bottomdelivery feeder having anoscillating gripper pad which crumples the lowermost section in thestack during the backstroke of the pad to thereby remove the leadingportion of the section from a supporting shelf and then, during itsforward stroke, introduces the released leading portion to a pair ofrapidly rotating delivery rollers which complete withdrawal of thesection from the stack. Thus, in an effort to lower capital costs andprevent the unnecessary duplication of basic operating equipment, it isan important object of the present invention to couple the grippingrollers of the present feeder with the oscillatory drive structure forthe gripper of the above-referenced application by means of a one-wayclutch and bearing assembly which would thereby permit driving of therollers in one direction only and at periodic, timed intervals.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide animproved feeder which takes advantage of the inherently stiff nature ofthe sheets being fed by successively driving the leading edge of eachsheet against a deflector to thereby bend or buckle the sheet and directthe same out of the hopper which contains the stack of sections.

Yet another important object of our invention is the provision of aretaining member which projects into the outlet of the hopper and has anabrasive outer surface which engages the leading edges of the sheets asthey are buckled to thereby prevent delivery of more than one sheet at atime through the outlet.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, top plan view of the newspaper section feederof our above-mentioned patent having the stiff sheet feeding apparatusof the present invention mounted in place thereon;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, vertical, cross-sectional view taken along line2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary detailed view of the grippingassembly of the feeder with parts shown in cross section and inelevation for clarity;

FIG. 4 is a vertical, cross-sectional view of the feeder from the rearthereof with the gripping assembly removed for clarity;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3illustrating in detail the one-way clutch bear- FIG. 6 is a view similarto FIG. 2 showing a stack of stiff sheets within the hopper of thefeeder in preparation for feeding thereof; and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing the condition of thecomponents of the feeder when the feeding cycle is half completed.

The newspaper section feeding apparatus disclosed in our above-mentionedpatent is denoted broadly by the numeral 10 and includes a pair ofupstanding sidewalls 12 between which the stiff sheet feeding unit 14 ispositioned as shown most clearly in FIG. 1. The apparatus 10 alsoincludes a slightly inclined shelf 16 at the rear of the apparatus whichis normally used to support the newspaper sections being delivered, agripper 18 which is affixed to and oscillates with a horizontallyextending drive shaft 20, and a set of oppositely driven deliveryrollers 22 at the front of the apparatus 20, the lower set of deliveryrollers 22 being supported for movement toward and away from the upperset of rollers 22 in timed relationship with the oscillation of theshaft 20 and the gripper 18.

The stiff sheet feeder 14 includes an inclined table 24 which is boltedat opposite ends thereof to the walls 12 of apparatus 10 and has aU-shaped frame affixed thereto which comprises a pair of forwardlyextending arms 28 and a front cross member 30 which spans the distancetherebetween. The unit 14 is also provided with a sheet-receiving hopper32 which is formed by a pair of L-shaped, upstanding side guides 34slidably supported by the member 30 for movement therealong, and aninverted, U-shaped support 36 which is magnetically secured to thesurface of table 24 and has an uppermost inclined surface 38. Thus, thelong legs 40 of the guides 34 form the sides of the hopper 32, while theshort legs 42 thereof and the inclined surface 38 of support 36 form thefront and rear, respectively, of the hopper 32. The lowermost ends 44 ofthe guide legs 42 are bent back at approximately a 45 angle with respectto the remainder of the legs 42 to present an outlet area 46 for thehopper 32.

The arms 28 support therebetween a horizontally extending drive shaft 48which has a number of frictiontype gripping rollers 50 secured theretoat spaced intervals therealong for rotation with the shaft 48. The upperperiphery of each of the rollers 50 projects into the hopper 32thereabove and is disposed considerably above the outlet 46 and slightlyabove the surface of table 24 as shown best in FIG. 2 of the drawings.

In order to adapt the unit 14 to be driven by the drive shaft 20 ofapparatus 10, a large gear 52 is affixed to one end of the latter andmeshes with a smaller gear 54 on the corresponding end of shaft 48. Thegear 54 is provided with a central bore within which a one-way rollerclutch 56 is provided, as shown in FIG. 3, which receives the end of theshaft 48. The clutch bearing 56 may take the form of the cup rollerclutch produced by The Torrington Company which is disclosed in any oneor more of the following U.S. Pats:

No. 3,184,020 No. 3,241,641

No. 3,194,368 No. 3,260,333

As shown in detail in FIG. 5, the clutch 56 is oriented such that theshaft 48 is immediately seized by clutch 56 when the gear 54 is rotatedin a clockwise direction, yet is released to freewheel in the samedirection when the gear 54 remains stationary or is rotated in acounterclockwise direction. Thus, in any event, the shaft 48 is allowedto rotate only in a clockwise direction, whether in a freewheelingmanner or by means of a driving force applied to the gear 54.

Each of the arms 28 has a bearing 58 secured thereto which journals theshaft 48 for rotation, and one end of the shaft 48, as shown in detailin FIG. 3, has a friction clutch 60 associated therewith to retard thefreewheeling tendencies of the shaft 48 during operation. Clutch 60includes a coil spring 62 which is interposed between a collar 64 rigidto the shaft 48, and a nylon washer 66 which bears against anotherwasher 68 on the proximal end of the bearing 58.

A block 70 on the front cross member 30 between the side guides 34 has avertically extending slot 72 which receives an elongated retainer 74, asshown best in FIG. 4, in the nature of a file or similar object havingan abrasive or irregular outer surface. The outer surface of theretainer 74 is disposed behind the surfaces of the legs 42 of guides 34and a setscrew 76 on the block 70 permits vertical adjustment of theretainer 74 within slot 72, normally holding the retainer 74 in aposition wherein the lower end thereof extends downwardly into thehopper outlet 46. Thus, the only portion of the retainer 74 that ispresented for engagement with the sheets in the hopper 32 is thatportion which extends into the outlet 46. An upstanding rod 78 securedto the block 70 slidably receives a weight 80 which maintains downwardpressure upon the sheets in the stack during operation of the unit 14.

OPERATION When the apparatus is to be utilized in conjunction with thestiff sheet unit 14 rather than as a feeder for folded sections, little,if any, modification of the apparatus 10 is necessary in preparation forthe unit 14. Of course, it is to be understood that when the stiff sheetfeeder unit 14 is used, no newspaper sections at all will be deliveredby the apparatus 10; instead, the apparatus 10 will be utilized solelyfor the delivery of stiff sheets through the unit 14.

Once the unit 14 has been secured in place, a stack of the stiff sheetsmay be placed in the hopper 32 with the guides 34 adjusted appropriatelyand the support 36 shifted into a position as shown in FIG. 6 beneaththe rear of the stack. The gripping rollers 50 support the front of thestack and, because the upper periphery of each of the rollers 50 isdisposed below the inclined surface 38 of support 36, the sheets in thestack are inclined downwardly with the leading ends thereof tippedtoward the hopper outlet 46. Manifestly, further adjustment of thesupport 36 toward and away from the front cross member 30 will vary theinclination of the sheets in the stack. Once the stack is properlydisposed, the weight may be placed upon the rod 78 to assure continueddownward pressure upon the sheet in the stack.

Actuation of power mechanism (not shown) operates to oscillate the driveshaft 20 of the apparatus 10 at one speed, while the delivery rollers 22are driven at a much greater speed and open and close as the shaft 20oscillates. It is contemplated that such power mechanism may take theform of the mechanism shown and described in our earlier mentionedcopending application and, accordingly, at this juncture saidapplication is hereby incorporated by reference into the presentapplication for a full and complete understanding of the nature andoperation of the power mechanism.

Initially, the components of the apparatus 10 and unit 14 are in thecondition illustrated in FIG. 6 with the gripper 18 in a 4:00 oclockposition with the delivery rollers 22 disposed together. As the shaft 20is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction moving the gripper 18 in itsbackstroke toward the 11:00 oclock position illustrated in FIG. 7, thegear 52 drives the smaller gear 54 in a clockwise direction therebyimparting the same type of rotation to the clutch 56. Clutch 56 therebyseizes the shaft 48 and rotates the same in a clockwise direction toimpart similar rotation to the gripping rollers 50. This causes theleading end of the lowermost sheet in the stack to be driven against thelegs 42 of guides 34, which thereupon serve as deflectors and cause thesheet to bend or buckle intermediate its ends. Continued rotation of therollers 50 causes the leading end of the lowermost sheet to slidedownwardly along the legs 42 until it reaches the outlet 46, by whichtime the delivery rollers 22 have separated almost to the extent shownin FIG. 7. Further rotation of the gripping rollers 50 introduces theleading end of the lowermost sheet between the separated deliveryrollers 22, at which time the latter close about the sheet and, sincethey are rotating at a higher speed than the rollers 50, pull the sheetfrom the rollers 50 to complete withdrawal of the sheet from the stack.

As the shaft 20 is driven in the opposite direction, returning thegripper 18 in a forward stroke toward its FIG. 6 position, the smallgear 54 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction. Normally, thisaction would also cause the shaft 48 to rotate in the same direction.However, because of the clutch 56, shaft 48 is precluded from rotatingin a counterclockwise direction and, in fact, continues to rotate in aclockwise direction during this time because of the friction between thegripping rollers 50 and the section thereabove being rapidly withdrawnby the delivery rollers 22. Once the sheet being removed is completelywithdrawn from the stack, the shaft 48 would tend to freewheel in aclockwise direction were it not for the presence of the friction clutch60 which prevents such action. Therefore, once the trailing end of thesheet has left the rollers 50, the latter are in condition for feedingthe next sheet. The above cycle is then repeated until the supply ofsheets in the hopper 32 is depleted.

In certain instances, especially where the sheets being fed are thinnerthan average, rotation of the gripping rollers 50 against the lowermostsheet in the stack, causes several of the other sheets disposedimmediately thereabove to be deflected by the front guide legs 42 anddirected toward the outlet 46. However, as the leading ends of thedeflected sheets reach the outlet 46,

they engage the retainer 74 which precludes further movement of all butthe lowermost sheet that is, at this point, the driving force of therollers 50 is sufficient to remove only the lowermost sheet from theretainer 74, while the remaining sheets are left behind for thesucceeding cycle. Therefore, the retainer 74 assures that only one ofthe sheets will be fed during each operating cycle.

It is contemplated that the feeder 14 may be used as an integralcomponent of a newspaper edition collating machine which may be formedby placing a number of the section feeders of our earlier mentionedpatent (one for each section of the edition) in a line above a movingconveyor. By timing the operation of the aligned section feeders, thesections of the edition may be deposited one on top of the other as theconveyor advances. A stiff advertising sheet may then be added to theedition by the present invention at the end of the line or anywherebetween the opposite ends thereof by simply placing the stiff sheetfeeder in the proper location.

It may, therefore, be appreciated that the stiff sheet feeder ashereinabovve described, is capable of successfully carrying out theobjects initially set forth in this application and provides a means ofdelivering stiff sheets which is highly reliable. Not only may thefeeder be quickly and easily installed and prepared for operation as anauxiliary feeding device, but full advantage is taken of the inherentlystiff nature of the sheets to deflect and direct the same out of thehopper 32 for delivery. Moreover, the provision of the retainer 74guarantees that no more sheets than is absolutely necessary will bedelivered, thereby holding down the overall cost of adding the sheets tocomplete newspaper editions.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is: 1. In combination with a newspaperfeeding machine having open bottom hopper means and a rotary grippingassembly beneath the hopper means oscillatable up into the latter fromalternate, opposite directions to first buckle the lowermost newspaperof a stack thereof within the hopper means to pull a leading edge of thenewspaper free from the stack and to then unbuckle the newspaper todisplace the leading edge forwardly, an auxiliary insert article feedermounted within said hopper means in lieu of the newspapers comprising:

a frame; an insert article hopper secured to said frame for receiving astack of the articles; an article gripper rotatably mounted on saidframe in disposition for engaging and feeding from the article hopperthe lowermost article of the stack; and one-way clutch mechanismoperably coupling said article gripper with said gripping-assembly ofthe newspaper feeding machine for intermittently driving the gripper ina feeding direction during oscillation of said assembly to successivelyfeed the articles from the article hopper. 2. The article feeder asclaimed. in claim 1, said newspaper feeding machine further having meansfor removing each article from the gripper at a faster rate than thearticle is shifted by the grip- P said clutch permitting the gripper tofreewheel in said direction about an axis extending transversely of thestack in response to removal of the article by said removal means; and afriction clutch associated with said gripper for retarding freewheelingthereof as the article is being removed.

1. In combination with a newspaper feeding machine having open bottomhopper means and a rotary gripping assembly beneath the hopper meansoscillatable up into the latter from alternate, opposite directions tofirst buckle the lowermost newspaper of a stack thereof within thehopper means to pull a leading edge of the newspaper free from the stackand to then unbuckle the newspaper to displace the leading edgeforwardly, an auxiliary insert article feeder mounted within said hoppermeans in lieu of the newspapers comprising: a frame; an insert articlehopper secured to said frame for receiving a stack of the articles; anarticle gripper rotatably mounted on said frame in disposition forengaging and feeding from the article hopper the lowermost article ofthe stack; and one-way clutch mechanism operably coupling said articlegripper with said gripping-assembly of the newspaper feeding machine forintermittently driving the gripper in a feeding direction duringoscillation of said assembly to successively feed the articles from thearticle hopper.
 2. The article feeder as claimed in claim 1, saidnewspaper feeding machine further having means for removing each articlefrom the gripper at a faster rate than the article is shifted by thegripper, said clutch permitting the gripper to freewheel in saiddirection about an axis extending transversely of the stack in responseto removal of the article by said removal means; and a friction clutchassociated with said gripper for retarding freewheeling thereof as thearticle is being removed.